IN a society where money often ranks higher than romance, sociologists – and the government – are watching to see how the current economic crisis is affecting marriage and divorce.

Few countries have more policies than Singapore to promote the family institution under threat from a competitive and modern lifestyle.

In recent weeks, Singaporeans had been glued to newspapers to read reports about the murder trial of an ex-army officer and a failed dot-com businessman who recruited a teenager to kill his wife.

Anthony Ler was sentenced to death for masterminding, brainwashing and threatening a 15-year-old boy into killing his wife.

Like a plot in a TV soap opera, the youth eventually stabbed her at the lobby of her flat.

Ler’s company was in bad shape, he needed money desperately and he wanted his wife out of the way so he could sell their flat.

In this case, money was, of course, not the only cause of his downfall; his own dysfunctional self was the major reason.

But the continuing economic decline, the worst in independent Singapore, is wreaking havoc on the nation’s family units.

When companies fail and people lose their jobs or suffer pay cuts, money becomes tight and domestic friction rises.

About 25,000 workers are expected to become unemployed this year with a lot more having to take pay cuts.

Among the worst hit are small businesses and sales people earning commissions; others include the self-employed like hawkers, taxi drivers, repairmen and small contractors.

This is, of course, nothing extraordinary. Such problems exist in many other troubled cities.

But for Singapore, which places a lot of emphasis on status and materialism, the coming years will provide a fertile ground for social studies.

When mortgages are due, schools reopen and parents need hospital care and there’s not enough money to go around, how many family units will break?

It is an important issue for a state that believes its welfare depends on the well being of its family blocks. Once they break down, the country cannot do well.

Financial sufferings, of course, do little to improve divorce statistics or the low rate of procreation in Singapore.

But its impact on marriage is less certain. It may not automatically reduce it.

Young Singaporean men and women are better educated. The question is: Will the lure of two incomes make matrimony more attractive to reluctant singles?

“If you’re married and lose your job, your working spouse can help tide things over until you recover,” said a marriage counsellor. If you were single, you would be in trouble.

But this would only apply to couples whose skills are marketable for which number is strength.

Generally, education holds the key to marriage in Singapore, recession or no.

Too little of it means older men end up as old bachelors; ironically, the same problem applies to super brainy women, too, as they are left on the shelf.

Census statistics released earlier this year showed that one in five men aged 40 to 44 who had not completed their secondary schooling were single by 2000, compared with one in 10 a decade ago.

“Singapore women are very pragmatic. The men they want must have money, more money and status in society,” said a bachelor interviewed by a local newspaper.

While poor education hindered men’s marriage prospects, it is the opposite for women. Between 30 percent and 40 percent of women over 30 years old who made it to university stayed single, the figures showed.

Singaporean men and women rate personality and intelligence as important virtues in their partners.

In an online discussion, some 200 women were asked: “Would you marry a lowly-educated man?” The answer has less to do with education than money.

Almost 75 percent of the messages said or hinted that money was the key to tying the knot. While romance was crucial, money was more important in expensive, competitive Singapore.

“It would be real dumb to say money is not important here,” said one message. Another added: “When money knocks on the door, love flies out of the window.”

Pragmatism, not love, figures more among the present generation.

The press is full of reports about couples hiring private detectives to check on their prospective spouses before tying the knot.

In an online discussion among professionals, someone wrote about his impression of a recent wedding between two graduates.

It was unlike other weddings that he had attended, where the emphasis was on romance and how they met and dated. “This one was very professional and felt like a power lunch,” he added.

There was a lot of mention on how smart or shrewd the husband was. Even the pastor mentioned the marriage was “an act of careful thought.”

Said the writer: “It was a bit scary, like it’s part of a grand complicated plan.”

Singaporeans, by nature, are a cautious lot when it comes to affairs of the heart.

A newspaper poll discovered that only half the men and women believe in love at first sight. More than two-thirds said they had never fallen in love this way.

The recession will push Singaporeans to the altar and reverse the trend of a rising population of singles.

“Singapore is, of course, not alone in this. It’s a global phenomenon, from New York to Taipei, Hong Kong to Tokyo. People don’t see the urgency or need to get married,” said a 20-something journalist.

It’s something even an economic exigency cannot change,” she added.

Last year, singles made up 55.7 percent of all households here, compared to 50.1 percent 10 years earlier.

Unlike in the past, being an unmarried woman has no stigma. Most of them are capable of supporting themselves.

For the first time, the ruling People’s Action Party has put single women into the new Parliament, something it had steadfastly avoided.

Officials of government match-making bodies say Singaporeans are not materialistic when seeking a spouse – but they are realistic.

Their belief, one said, could be summed up as follows: “Our life should not be worse off after marriage. It should be at least slightly better off.”

Of course, if you’re a poorly educated male with a low-income the prospects of finding a bride among local girls are quite gloomy.

That too is a reality.

Seah Chiang Nee is a veteran journalist and editor of the information website littlespeck.com

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